Two barrels protect demolished Maplewood Ave. bridge site

PORTSMOUTH — The only things separating westbound drivers on Maplewood Avenue from a massive hole where the Route 1 Bypass bridge used to be, are two plastic barrel barricades.

Elizabeth Dinan

PORTSMOUTH — The only things separating westbound drivers on Maplewood Avenue from a massive hole where the Route 1 Bypass bridge used to be, are two plastic barrel barricades.

The barrels would not stop an intoxicated, distracted, or confused driver from motoring through the area and crashing nose-down onto the bypass below, acknowledged Adam Chestnut, project manager for the state Department of Transportation.

“We'll look into it,” Chestnut said Thursday morning, while explaining that the work area around the bridge removal and replacement project is “a progression.”

Workers on scene began by putting barricades 40 to 50 feet away from the work area, he said, but as the size of that work area grew, the barricades became closer.

Chestnut said the work crew wants to be safe and remove all chances of accidents, but also need access to that area to get crews and equipment in and out.

“If we closed the whole area off, it would be impossible to get in there and work,” he said.

Chestnut noted that there's also a message board saying the road is closed and a sign warning that “unauthorized travel is prohibited.” He said it has also been the state's intent to add concrete barriers to prevent an errant driver from going over the steep drop where the bridge once stood.

As for pedestrians walking to the edge for a look or a selfie, Chestnut said keeping people off construction sites is a challenge at “every project I've even been on.”

“People will blatantly go through barricades,” he said. “It's very hard to protect those people.”

Chestnut said his crew is trying to “balance safety with what we need to get done” and that he recognizes the concern about easy access to the opened road.

“It is a concern we have,” he said. “We'll probably add some concrete barriers.”

That section of Maplewood Avenue was closed on July 14 and the majority of the bridge has since been dismantled and hauled away.

According to the DOT, construction of a replacement bridge is expected to be complete by the fall of 2015.

In conjunction with the replacement of the bridge, road improvements will be done on Maplewood Avenue and the Route 1 Bypass. In addition, water line improvements will be made on Cutts Street, Alder Way, Kane Street, Dennett Street and Maplewood Avenue.

E.D. Swett Inc. of Concord is the prime contractor for the $3.9 million project.

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